How Effective Is Teledentistry Compared to Dentists in Person? 

Can you remember the last time you went to a dentist’s office for a random checkup? Usually, people visit dental offices when they have underlying oral problems that need treatment. However, it is not the best approach to dental health, especially if you are interested in excelling in preventive dental care to promote good oral health. Thankfully, you can now rely on teledentistry for all your dental visits.

Defining Teledentistry Vs. Offline Dental Visits

Teledentistry involves using telecommunications to provide dental services to patients. The services offered via teledentistry regard consultation and sensitization to educate patients on proper oral health.

On the other hand, offline dental visits entail in-person meetings with a dental expert to examine your dental health. They have been the standard way of traditional dental care that is now being challenged by teledentistry in modern dentistry.

​The Benefits of Online Dental Consultation

• Promotes monitoring – after treatment, you need regular monitoring to check the status of your oral cavity over time. Online dentistry provides a quick and easy way for dental experts to monitor your dental health.
• It overcomes environmental variables – including proximity, time zone differences, and other factors like the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to online dental consultation, you can still access dental services regardless of inhibiting environmental variables.
• Quick access to dental services – even without physically showing up to our dental clinic at Mouth Consult, you can quickly access our various dental services through teledentistry.
• Increasing reach – more people now have access to dental care services thanks to teledentistry. With social media benefiting online dentistry, many people are gaining confidence in dental experts through teledentistry, promoting good oral health globally.

​The Benefits of Offline Visit to A Doctor

• Detecting dental issues early – do you not wonder how dental experts can uncover a dental problem even while your dental health has seemingly been okay so far? An offline visit allows your dentist to analyze your oral health to identify any anomalies early so you can start treatment immediately.
• For diagnosis and treatment – no matter how much you want convenience, only an offline visit would allow for diagnosis and treatment of dental problems. Virtual visits can only do so much during the consultation session. Afterward, you will need treatment, which is only possible through in-person visits.
• Physical exams – sometimes, the only way to be sure that your oral cavity is healthy is through an exam. Teledentistry may focus on addressing questions and concerns, but offline visits are necessary for conducting physical exams.
• Self-assurance – people need to be reassured that things are good, particularly when it concerns their health. While it may be good for a doctor to assure you via phone that you will be okay, it makes a lot of difference to be in the same room with the dental expert and physically ascertain that your oral health is in check.

​How Teledentistry Is More Effective Than Offline Visit

An important thing to note is that teledentistry does not exist to rival traditional ways of dental care. Instead, it betters and compliments dental service provision to patients. Some of the reasons why you may appreciate teledentistry as being more effective than offline visits are:

• Convenience – the idea of slotting an hour or more for a dental checkup can be annoying, particularly for patients with busy work lives. The convenience of a dentist virtually meeting your dental needs is unmatched compared to offline dental visits.
• Inexpensive – a virtual dental consult proves relatively inexpensive compared to an in-person consult. Besides, the availability of online resources to educate you regarding various oral-related questions you may have given you more value at more than half the cost.
• Time-saving – the time it would take to book an appointment, show up in a dental clinic and probably wait in line for a few minutes before you meet your dentist is removed from the equation in teledentistry. Instead, all you need is to make a call to schedule an appointment for direct access to an online dental consultant.
• A network of dental experts – today, you can liaise with various dental experts globally, regardless of location-based barriers. Besides, dentists are not working with other experts to promote good oral health for patients globally.